Merit Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter worth $29,939,000. APG Asset Management N.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter worth $7,512,000. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 513,391 shares of the company's stock worth $24,217,000 after acquiring an additional 60,643 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter worth $4,333,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 251.2% during the fourth quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 24,615 shares of the company's stock worth $1,161,000 after acquiring an additional 17,607 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total transaction of $264,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 139,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,358,352.43. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total value of $352,698.06. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 94,980 shares in the company, valued at $5,025,391.80. This trade represents a 6.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 83,332 shares of company stock valued at $4,186,000 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Equitable from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.67.

Equitable Price Performance

EQH traded down $1.56 during trading on Friday, reaching $51.52. The stock had a trading volume of 2,147,600 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,548,973. The stock has a market cap of $15.66 billion, a PE ratio of 13.49 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.07. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $36.46 and a one year high of $56.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $50.97 and a 200-day moving average of $50.77.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. The firm's revenue was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This is a boost from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.35%.

Equitable Company Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, operates as a diversified financial services company worldwide. The company operates through six segments: Individual Retirement, Group Retirement, Investment Management and Research, Protection Solutions, Wealth Management, and Legacy.